Inside The Bills

Earlier today ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper released his first mock draft and he did not have a single quarterback come off the board in the first 32 selections. In a national conference call Kiper explained why.

Kiper referenced the Arizona Cardinals at seven and Buffalo Bills at eight in need of a quarterback, but he doesn’t see them taking one in round one.

“I couldn’t put a first round quarterback in my mock because I don’t think one is going to go seven or eight,” said Kiper. “After that nobody else is looking at a quarterback. The teams that are, Kansas City obviously and Arizona and Buffalo, but they’re second round possibilities. To me if you want to project a quarterback at seven or eight go ahead. I just don’t think there’s any quarterback worthy of going that high.”

Kiper then raised the potential of one of those teams trading back into the bottom of round one to get the signal caller they want.

“That’s where do you see a team trade back into the first round in the 20’s to get a Mike Glennon, a Geno Smith or a Matt Barkley? Certainly that could happen,” said Kiper. “We all thought that was going to happen with Andy Dalton two years ago and it never did. Cincinnati stayed where they were he fell to them and Colin Kaepernick went a little higher to the 49ers and there they were. Everybody said if you want Andy Dalton you have to move back into the first at about 25 and nobody had to move to 25.

“The late great John Butler was running the Chargers organization and he took LaDainian Tomlinson and didn’t trade up in the late first for a quarterback and there he was sitting there in the early second round. They didn’t have to trade up to get him. So that’s why this notion that you have to trade up to get their quarterback doesn’t happen.”

“So I can’t project that trade when I’m doing a mock first round. It distorts the whole thing. So could Geno Smith, Glennon or Barkley go in the late first? They could. Could one of these guys get hot during the pre-draft process? Yes.”